Cusco/Machu Picchu Trip
 

Hello I need some advice on my Cusco trip.

We will be landing in Cusco from Lima on March 20th and flying back to Lima on March 23rd. I havent bought these tickets but Im trying to get to cusco as early as possible.

March 20 - Land in cusco in the morning, take a shuttle/bus to Ollay. Should I stay in Ollay for the night and catch the early train in the morning to Aguas Calientes, or just take a train to AC that same day??

My wife gets motion sickness really easily, so idk if the ride from cusco to Ollay plus the train ride to AC would be too much for 1 day, or is it a smooth ride??

March 21 - Visit Machu Picchu. In the afternoon catch train back to Ollay. Should we stay here the night and go back to cusco the next day?? or is there anything we could see/do around Ollay for 1 afternoon, and we would go back to cusco early the next morning??

March 22 - Stay/see cusco all day.
March 23 - Stay/see cusco during the morning. Catch the flight back to Lima in the afternoon.

Thanks for your help.

That is VERY rushed! Have you considered the effects of the altitude?

It is a fairly easy straight ride from Cusco to Ollantaytambo which takes a coupe of hours with no stops. I would recommend booking a taxi from the airport rather than a collectivo or bus as this will require a transfer to the staton and waiting around time. Check out www.taxidatum.com or your accomodation in Ollantaytambo. A straight taxi ride should cost around 180 soles. You could include a few stops along the way, Moray , Maras, Chinchero etc. (Although chinchero is at quite high altitude)

I would stay in Ollantaytambo on arrival, explore and get the train to AC early the next morning, spend the day there and either get the late train back to Ollantaytambo and spend the night there and early taxi to Cusco or direct to Cusco.

If at all possible do add a couple of days at least to explore Cusco and the SV, you won't regret it!

I agree with crellston..I would vote for the 20/21 in Ollantay and day trip to MP. On the 20 if you arrive on a morning flight, go to see either the old town or the ruins in Ollantay in the afternoon (rest for a few hours after arriving in Ollantay first,though!).

On the 22 book a morning tour/tranfer back to Cusco and include the stops at the Salineras and Moray on the way, they're also kind of high so I wouldn't do any stops on your arrival day. On the afternoon of the 22 you can see some of Cusco, eg the Qoricancha site which is near the center of town.

I agree it would be nice to add at least one more day. Then you could see more of Cusco, maybe add in Pisac and/or Sacsayhuaman.

If you can try to book into El Albergue for easy access to the early train to MP.

And buy your train tickets now, once you have flights set!

Thanks for your replies. About altitude, we lived in Denver, so we are at a constant 5200ft elevation. I know Ollay and cusco are still almost double that, and im still worried about some altitude sickness indeed.

I think we are going to stay in Ollay and do a day trip to MP like you 2 suggested and we would just have a full day in Cusco to see and tour what we can.

Unfortunately, we cant add another day in Cusco, we tried.

Thank you again.

Ditto the recommendation of El Albergue in Ollanta (the hotel restaurant is really good too)